

J^ 






Kap<3*»t df tiie 



f<£<|«*%aJ ^r'<^laT^ows. «^<ziaTiu« 

cX Kansas i»»+o ^« 



lat. 
Aust.vi , 1858 






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Glass. 
Book. 






REPORT 



OF THE 



COMMITTEE ON FEDERAL RELATIONS 



^^/, 



RELATIVE TO THE 



ADMISSION OF KANSAS 



INTO THE 



FEDERAL UNION. 



frinfel) fe ax)itx of t\i fquMm af tin BMt at teas. 



AUSTIN: 

TRINTED BY JOHN MARSHALL & CO., STATE PRINTEBS. 

"'• 185a 



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REPOKT. 



COMMITTEE ROOM, 1 
January 7th, 1858. j 
To THE Hon. M. F. Locke, 

Speaker pro tern. House of Representatives : 
' The Committee on Federal Relations, to which was referred 
a Preamble and Resolutions, condemnatory of Robert J 
Walker, late Governor of Kansas, for his unauthorized, 
illegal, and impertinent interference in the affairs of the Ter- 
ritory over which he was called to preside, have had the same 
under consideration, and beg leave to report : 

The same considerations which originally caused the rejec- 
tion of the Preamble and Resolutiens and their subsequent 
reference, operated with your Committee, in delaying this re- 
port. Mr. Walker was a Southern man, if not by birth, at 
least by adoption ; and his appointment as Governor of Kan- 
sas, was regarded, at the time, by all parties, as an important 
concession to the South. Fully identified with the Demo- 
cratic party of this section of the Union, by an active co-ope- 
ration, extending throughout the period of his political career ; 
his speeches in Congress and out of it, his letters and his offi- 
cial reports as Secretary of the Treasury, under a Democratic 



4 

pi'O-slavery administration, fully endorsing and s-oastaining these 
opinions, the fact that he was pressed upon Mr. Buchanan by 
Southern men in Con-^i-ess, for the first position in his Cabinet ;. 
and the further fact, that although his conduct as Governor of 
Kansas, seemed to merit the condemnation embraced in the 
Preamble and Resolutions^ yet he was sustained, jndging from 
newspaper accounts^ by a large portion of the pro-slaveiy party 
of the Territory ; and that too after he had been condemned 
by the Democratic Conventions of two, at least,, of the South- 
ern States. It was not to be expected that a man with such 
antecedents and thus sustained, would falsify the histoiy of 
hi» political life by an act of treachery and faithlessness for 
which there was, seemingly, no adequate motive, for even one 
who had determined to abandon j^rinciple and look to unhal- 
lowed ambition only, for his reward. Under these circumstan- 
ces, your Committee, actuated by like considerations which 
prevailed in the House, when this Preamble and Resolutions 
were referred, were reluctant to condemn Gov. Walker un- 
heard. They thought it but just to wait until all the facts 
connected with his course in Kansas were before them. He 
had a right to expect as much from Texas particularly, on ac- 
count of the decided course he took in relation to annexation 
and the services rendered by him in that struggle. A legisla- 
tive body, acting with deliberation, could not do otherwise. — 
Your Committee will not disguise the fact, that in view of all 
the circumstances, a hope was indulged that a justification for 
his conduct might be offered which would be satisfactory. — 
They have waited patiently the result. The whole matter is 
before them, together with Mr. Walker's extraordinary let- 
ter, in which he attempts to justify himself ; and upon this 
evidence they are fully prepared to condemn, in unqualified 
terms, the course he has pursued. They regard it as a direct 



and flagrant Yiolation, by an officer of the Federal Govern- 
ment, of the doctrine of non-intervention as embraced in the 
Kansas-Nebraska act, which j^rovided, that the people of the 
territory should be left free to form their domestic institutions 
in their own way, subject to the Constitution of the United 
States. The expression " domestic institutions" used in the 
act, referred exclusively to the institution of slavery, as the 
debates in Congress, and particularly the sjweches of Mr. Dou,'^- 
las, at the time of its passage, clearly show. The universality 
.of the rule of self-government, as to all other subjects, was not 
a matter of controversy. When, therefore, Governor Walker 
declared, as he did, in his Topeka speech, that from the laws 
of climate, slavery could not exist in Kansas, and in that 
and subsequent speeches, that the constitution to be adopted 
by a State Convention, would be of no obligatory force, unless 
submitted to a direct vote of the people for ratification or re- 
jection, and that unless so submitted, would and ought to be 
rejected bj Congress ; his course as Governor of the territory, 
cannot be considered otherwise, than at war with the doctrine 
of non-intervention, as an unauthorised, illegal, and imperti- 
nent interference, with the rights of the people, and an act of 
treachery equalled only by his abandonment of Mr. Buchanan's 
adminigtration. 

The declaration that the climate of Kansas rendered it unfit 
for slavery, coming from a Southern man with the antecedents 
of Mr. Walker, and the Governor of the territory, was well 
calculated to deter slaveholders from emigrating to it, and to 
produce a corresponding increase of emigrants from the non- 
slaveholding States. It was not only an unauthorised and 
impertinent interference for him to dictate in advance what 
course the Convention must adopt after forming a State Con- 
fititution, but it was calling in question the authority with 



which it was delegated, an attempt to abridge its powers and 
the efficiency of its action, and giving aid and countenance to 
a body of men whose purposes were treasonable, who had set 
at defiance all legal authority, and who for upwards of three 
years had promoted discord and civil war. It was tantamount 
to saying to them, " Slavery cannot exist in Kansas, and con- 
sequently all attempts to introduce it into the territory are 
wrong, and against the laws of God, You can go on in your 
career of resistance and violence. The constitutional conven- 
tion amounts to nothing unless it submits its action back to 
the people, and if all other efforts fail in your lawless course, 
you will then have a chance of defeating it." Nor can his 
views be abstractly defended on the ground that sov- 
ereignty resides in the people, and is in itself indivisal le. Ad- 
mitting this proposition to be true, the people have certainly 
the right to determine the manner in which they will exercise 
their sovereignty, and with this, the people of Kansas were 
clearly invested by the terms of the territorial act, which de- 
clared that they should settle their domestic institutions iu 
their own way. They choose to do this through a convention, 
and under our republican system of government, according to 
all recognized opinions, such a convention was invested with 
the sovereign will and authority. The question of submitting 
its action to the people for ratification, was a mere question 
of propriety which that body had the sole and exclusive right 
to determine. To assume any other position, is to say, that 
the people are incapable of delegating their authority ; it is to 
confound the idea of sovereignty, with the mode of exercising 
sovereign powers. If Gov. Walker's position be correct, a 
constitutional convention would not be warranted in submit- 
ting a Constitution in its entirety, for ratification or rejection, 
to their constituents ; for that would be to confound alike its 



good and bad parts. They must take all or none. Consequently 
the only just mode would be to submit each section separately, 
a course which would be totally impracticable, involving un- 
necessary discussion, expense and delay. The rights of the 
people are sufficiently protected by the responsibility which 
each delegate is under to those from whom he received his au- 
thority, and if perchance, the Constitution should be deemed 
obnoxious, it can be amended or a new convention may be 
called, after the organization of the State Government. 

The resignation of Mr. Walker, renders unnecessary any 
further action than a full and decided condemnation of his 
conduct. Your committee unanimously endorse the preamble 
and resolutions which were submitted to them, and but for 
the facts and circumstances hereinbefore stated, would have 
immediately returned them to the House for ratification. 

But another question is presented of a more important char- 
acter, and upon which, in the opinion of the committee, the 
State of Texas, through her Legislature should speak. The 
territory of Kansas has been for upwards of three years the 
theatre of civil war, superinduced by an armed band of Black 
Kepublicans, who have been in open rebellion against the gov- 
ernment and civil authorities. They have steadily refused to 
participate in the Legislation of the tenitory, or to obey its 
laws, which were of a just and salutary character, and in con- 
formity to the Federal Constitution and of the equal rights of 
the States, protecting alike every species of property, slavery 
included. These men — thus engaged in sowing the seeds of 
discord, hatred, and anarchy, refused to comply with a law 
requiring a registry of the legal voters of the territory, and 
which was intended to prevent fraud in elections. They also 
refused to vote in the election of delegates for a State Coh- 
vention, or to recognise its legal existence. It is also said that 



they refused, and in all probability failed to take part in the 
question of slavery, or no slavery, which was submitted to the 
determination of the voters of the territory on the 21st of De- 
cember. The tenitorial Legislature, which called the State 
Convention, was a legally organized body and represented the 
people of the territory, a fact which no one will pretend to 
deny. That the peace of the territory, and the peace and safety 
of the union, required such a convention in order that the 
agitation of the slavery question might be localized, is also a 
fact equally undeniable. An act of Congress could not have 
made it more equitable, or have given the people a better op- 
portunity to vote for delegates. This, it seems to us, covers 
the ground of propriety. 

That convention met and submitted the question, and the 
«nly question, which divided the territory, to the decision of 
the people. 

Your committee are therefore of the opinion that the Le- 
compton convention ought to be sustained, and our Senators 
and Representatives in Congress should be requested to vote 
for the admission of Kansas as a State under the Constitution 
adopted by it, whatever has been the decision of the people 
as to the question of slavery. In the language of Mr. Bu- 
chanan, " the question can never be more clearly or distinctly 
presented to the people than it is at the present moment. — 
Should this opportunity be rejected, Kansas may be involved 
for years in domestic discord, and possibly in civil war, before 
she can again make up the issue now so fortunately tendered, 
and again reach the point she has already attained." 

The leading object of the Kansas Nebraska act, was to re- 
move the dangerous question of slavery, from the halls of Con- 
gress, in which it was at first an intruder, and to let the peo- 
ple determine it for themselves. In the plain and forcible Ian- 



guage of the Presideut — " The friends and supporters of the 
Nebraska and Kansas Act, when struggling on a recent occa- 
sion to sustain its wise provisions before the great tribunals of 
the American people, never differed about its true meaning 
on this subject. Everywhere throughout the Union they pub- 
licly pledged their faith and their honor, that they would 
cheerfully submit the question of slavery, to the decision of 
the bona fide people of Kansas, without any restriction or qua- 
lification whatever. All were cordially united upon the great 
doctrine of popular sovereignty, which is the vital principle of 
our free institutions." The just expectations, therefore, of the 
American people, have been met by the Constitutional Con- 
vention of Kansas. They presented the question of slavery 
clearly and distinctly without embarrassing the action of the 
people by mixing it up with others of an extraneous character. 
If, therefore, Kansas is rejected in her application for admis- 
sion into the Union under the Lecompton Constitution, or an 
act is passed by Congress calling for another State convention, 
it will be upon the ground, and the sole ground, it is believed, 
whatever reasons may be given, that her Constitution tolerates 
slavery. Thus will be presented the issue so fearfully an- 
ticipated that it is the settled determination of the Nortli not 
to admit another slave State into the Union. What is the 
duty of the South in the event of such a manifestation of ma- 
levolent feeling, it is for the people to determine. In the 
judgment of your committee a crisis will have arisen demand- 
ing the counsel and co-operation of the Southern States. They 
therefore recommend that Texas be placed in a position by the 
present Legislature to consult and co-operate with the other 
Southern States, if such an emergency should force itself upon 
us. Your committee in making these recommendations have 
no disposition to pander to a morbid sectional feeling, or to 



10 

cultivate a sentiment which looks with favor upon a dissolu- 
tion of the Union of the American States. In the language 
of the declaration and protest of the Commonwealth of Vir- 
i^inia, drawn by Mr. Jefferson — " They know and value too 
highly the blessings of their Union as to foreign nations and 
questions arising among themselves, to consider every infrac- 
tion as to be met by actual resistance. They respect too af- 
fectionately the opinions of those possessing the same rights 
under the same instrument, to make every difference a ground 
of rupture. They would indeed consider such a rupture as 
among the greatest calamities which could befal them ; hut 
not the greatest. There is yet one greater submission to a gov- 
ernment of unlimited powers." It cannot, however be disguised, 
that we are on the verge of a fearful crisis ; that a powerful 
combination is forming in the Northern States, and in Con- 
gress, under the leadership of men to whom the South has 
heretofore looked for aid and assistance in the hour of her 
need, which threatens the denationalization of the democratic 
party, the purpose of which is to prevent the admission of 
Kansas into the Union as a slave State. It is for the people 
of the South to say whether they will submit to such a fla- 
grant Violation of their rights and for the future own themselves 
unequals in the Union. In the opinion of your committee, a 
])eriod has arrived, when the people of the South should plant 
themselves upon a common platform, and insist upon a full 
recognition of their equality in the Union ; in the practical 
test of State equality, presented in the application of Kansas 
for admission into the Union, the Northern and Southern 
States agreed to the doctrine of non-intervention as expressed 
in the Kansas Nebraska act ; in order that the agitation of 
the slavery question might be removed from the halls of Con- 
gress, and in order that it might be determined by the people 



11 

of the territory ; and if tlw operation of that doctrine has 
awarded Kansas to the Southern States, then to the South 
ht it belong ; if to the North, then to the North let it 
belong. But let Kansas be received as a State by Con- 
stress, let the agitation of the slavery question, if there is to 
l).^ any more, be thus localized and cut off from federal 
politics. Let the doctrine of non-intervention triumph, 
and then we may hope for the restoration of peace and har- 
mony to our national counsels, and the settlement of the 
slavery question, so far as the territories are concerned for the 
future upon a just and permanent basis. In view of these 
f;tcts and considerations the committee recommend to the Le- 
gislature the adoption of the accompanying Preamble and Re- 
solutions, not as a matter of form, but because it is due to 
the State and to the people. 

P. MURRAH, 
Chairman of Committee on Federal Belations. 



^■ofc 



PEEAMBLE AND RESOLUTIONS. 



Whereas, the people of the territory of Kansas, through 
their chosen delegates, met in Convention authorized by 
the Legislature at Lecompton, on the day of 
A. D. 1857, and ordained for themselves a Constituti-jn, 
preparatory to asking admission into the Union, as a sove- 
reign and equal State thereof. 
And Wliereas, said Constitution is Kepublican in its charac- 
ter, and the question of " slavery," or " no slavery'"'" was 
submitted by the Convention to the determination of the 
voters of the tenitory, 
And Wliereas, an organization has taken place in Congress 
and in the Northern States out of Congress, led by men who 
have heretofore acted with the South on issues presented by 
slavery, the object of which is to defeat the doctrine of non- 
intervention, and refuse Kansas admission into the Union 
as a slave State, though other pretexts are sought to justify 
the opposition, which organization threatens to be formid- 
able, if not successful : 

Therefore Be it resolved hy tJie Legislature of the State of 
Texas : That it is the deliberate opinion of the people of 
Texas, expressed through their Senators and Kepresentativeh;, 
that Congress ought without any unnecessary delay or hin- 
derance, to admit Kansas into the Union, as a State if she 
presents herself for admission under the Lecompton Constitu- 
tion, and without considering whether the Constitution is 
" pro-slavery," or '' anti-slaveiy." 



13 

I'esolved, Tliat if Kansas is refused admission into the 
Union by Congress, or her admission unnecessarily delayed or 
liindered on account of a pro-slavery Constitution — though 
tlie refusal may be cloaked under other pretexts — it will pre- 
s;ent an emergency that will authorize and require the counsel 
and co-operation of the Southern States^ in order to preserve 
their equal rights, and to protect their domestic institutions. 

llesolved, That Texas will meet the emergency as becomes 
a free people and a sovereign State, and that in case such a 
♦tisis presents itself, his Excellency H. R. Eunnels be authorized 
to appoint at least three delegates from each of the Congres- 
.sional Districts of this State, to meet the delegates of the 
other Southern States in Convention, should one be assem- 
bled under the circumstances, and for the purposes contem- 
plated by these resolutions, 

Itesolved, Tliat the sum often thousand dollars be^ and the 
same is hereby appropriated out of any money that may be in 
tie Treasury, to pay the mileage and per diem of said delegates, 
should they be required to act, and that their appointment be 
authenticated by the Great Seal of the State, in order that 
they may appear in Convention, should there be one, as the 
regularly accredited agents of a sovereign State, that but a 
few years since voluntarily placed herself in the Union of the 
American States as an equal. 

llesolved, That His Excellency Governor Runells, be re- 
quested to forward copies of these resolutions, authenticated 
by the Seal of the State, forthwith to our Senators and Eep- 
resentatives in Congress, and to the Governor of the several 
Southora States. 



